Nearly 100 Israelis have been detained in the United States since the September 11 terror attacks. Most of the Israelis were arrested on visa violations or for working without permits. Some, though, were detained on suspicion of connection to international terrorist organizations.

Most of the Israelis detained by U.S. immigration officers have already been deported, but others remain in American prisons, awaiting deportation orders. Only last weekend 22 Israelis were reportedly arrested in Missouri -- 12 in Kansas City and 10 in St. Louis.

According to Booni Cohavi, Israeli Consul for Administration and Consular Affairs in Chicago, two main factors have led to the wave of arrests. The first is the significant growth in the number of Israelis entering the United States on tourist visas who end up working in various jobs without a permit. The second factor is the toughening of American immigration policies towards those residing illegally in the United States. American citizens are more aware in finding illegal aliens and bringing about their deportation. Israelis are being targeted, Cohavi says, due to their Middle Eastern appearance.

"Sources in the American Jewish and Israeli community here have already hinted that they fear being associated with the detained Israelis," Cohavi said. "This is happening at a time when we are conducting a very intense public relations campaign intended to increase the support for Israel in the American public, and it is giving Israel a bad name."

Cohavi called on the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to quickly organize a campaign to instruct young Israelis bound for the United States not to travel or work without visas and work permits, Yediot Aharonot reported. "From my talks with the detained youths and their families I learned that most of them are unaware of the meaning of visa transgressions," Cohavi said. These transgressions lead to "arrest and weeks of imprisonment, deportation and prohibition from entering the U.S. for ten years."

One of the Israelis arrested recently in the United States was Gali Ben-Haim, 22, whose father was killed nine years ago in a terrorist shooting in Gush Katif. She arrived in the United States with her friend, Yaakov Rosenberg, and began working in a local firm. Two days later, the two of them were arrested.

"The FBI agents stood us up against a wall and handcuffed us like criminals," Gali told her mother. "In the investigation they told us we were suspected of involvement in the wave of terror in the U.S."

Gali's mother, Dalia, asked, "How can my daughter be suspected of dealing with terror, when she, herself, is a daughter of a family hit by terror?"

According to Yediot Aharonot, former Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Bibi Netanyahu, who served in the IDF with Gali's father, Amatzia, have both tried to secure Gali's release, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry has hired a lawyer for the family in the U.S. Ministry officials said that they are doing everything possible to ensure that arrested Israelis are treated with full regard for their rights under local American law.

Israeli moving men questioned, arrested"It was a nightmare," said Roi Barak, 23, who returned to Israel this week after being detained in Pennsylvania on September 12. Barak was working for a moving company with his friend, Moti Butbul. Upon stopping their truck for a routine inspection, local police found that Barak's visa had expired and that Butbul was working without a permit. FBI agents arrived and began questioning the two.

"The usual procedure is that you get arrested for a day or two, and then you're deported. We weren't worried," Barak said.

The two understood at first that they were not under suspicion for involvement in terror attacks. Later interrogation did suggest possible involvement in terrorist activities and the FBI questioned them about their IDF military service and about the possibility that they were spies. The two were kept in jail for nearly two months, much of the time in solitary confinement.

"I can understand their arresting me and questioning me, but why did they keep us locked up for so long?" Barak said this week.

Five additional Israelis who worked at the same moving company as Barak and Butbul are still being held in the United States, but two of them will be deported next week. The five were arrested in New York shortly after the September 11 attacks, when they were seen acting suspiciously on a rooftop, photographing the burning World Trade Center towers.

After initial interrogation, American officials determined that the Israelis had no connection to the terror attacks. Even so, it was discovered that their visas had expired and they remained in prison. A deportation order was signed on September 25, but its implementation was delayed.

At the beginning of last week, Israeli Consul in New York Alon Pinchas visited the five young Israelis. Pinchas promised the American authorities that he would personally accompany the men until they boarded a plane out of the country. When the deportation orders for two of the five were finally approved, they were on the condition that no official Israeli representatives escort them to the airport.